"You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in." — Arlo Guthrie

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Light a taper for the Burning Taper's first birthday

The Widow's Son would like to take this opportunity to slap himself on the back with a cold, wet fish and utter to himself a hearty "What the hell am I doing?" in congratulations for one year of publishing The Burning Taper.

God grant me the serenityto accept the things I cannot change;courage to change the things I can;and wisdom to know the difference.

It's been a fun year.

I'm not sure how much of that prayer about making a difference was answered, but I hope I have changed a few things, for the better, in Masonry as well as the "real world." Some highlights:

I've had fun.

I've shared my frustrations and experiences in Antient Freemasonry, exposing the dark underbelly of the Fraternity as it is here in the south, not as some sinister cabal of movers-and-shakers (though they try — read the Small Town Freemasonry series), but, generally speaking, as a coffee and doughnut club of old men who pretend to believe in beauty, relief, truth and brotherly love while in reality are dogmatic, fundamentalist Baptists and Methodists and racists stuck in the bigoted and thoughtless mindscape of a "utopian" America circa 1950-1970 where blacks "knew their place" and those "long-haired hippie freaks" should be drafted. Oh, and who support their local child molesters. Yeah, you know who you are.

I've exposed my own neuroses to the world a few times ("Sorry about that, Chief!") and vented about the dangerous role organized religion has had in our country and our world. I've been a skeptic ever since my Sunday School teacher when I was nine years old fumbled the ball when I asked him how a murderer like young David, who killed Goliath, could be a revered "man of God" when just a few pages over in the Bible, it said, "Thou shalt not kill." Nobody's given me a decent answer to that or to a million other questions about Judeo-Christianity since.

Hopefully, something I have said on the Taper has inspired or provoked actions that have led to making Masonic lodges a better place to practice the Ancient Craft.

I've made some great friends, with Masons and non-Masons alike, in the "real world" as well as here in Blogland. I guess I've made a few "enemies," too, but that was just a side-effect of me being me, and other people disagreeing. Not something I worry about. Feel how you feel, it's okay with me. The Law of Thirds always rules: "No matter what you do, one-third of the people will agree with you, one-third will disagree, and one-third will not give a damn."

Thanks to everyone who has read and followed the Burning Taper for the last year. Stay with me... I hope I can crank out another year's worth of something interesting to read while you drink your morning coffee or your evening Pan Galactic Gargleblaster.

7 comments:

Happy Birthday/Anniversary to The Widows Son. Beleive it or not, I let my own slip right past without a comment. Forgot all about it. You've inspired me now to go and look see what I posted on the day when I should have patted my own self on the back-whenever that was.

A Mighty Congrats to you Widows Son. I have been here with you almost from the very start. I am so proud of you, I've watched you go from a bruised and somewhat disenchanted brother of the light to a more enlightened honorable man who has defended his beliefs and set the record straight on more than a few occasions. Thank you for the journey and for allowing me to tag along. You have been heard.

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